Troy P. Slapnicker looks over a court document with his lawyer Margaret Campbell during his sentencing hearing before Lake County Common Pleas Judge Eugene A. Lucci, July 31, 2014. Slapnicker previously pleaded guilty to using Facebook to send and ask young girls for inappropriate photos. He will serve nearly six months in jail.

Troy P. Slapnicker faced more than 20 years in prison for using social media to send and receive inappropriate photos with young girls.

But Lake County Common Pleas Judge Eugene A. Lucci determined prison is not where the 30-year-old Mentor man belongs.

“He has a documented brain injury from when a car hit him while he was on a bicycle when he was 14,” Assistant County Public Defender Margaret Campbell told the judge July 31. “He was also diagnosed with agoraphobia — he has a fear of going out and meeting new people.”

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And perhaps most importantly, Slapnicker — who had no prior criminal history — had numerous chances to meet several of the underage girls in person but backed out each time.

“This all occurred over the Internet,” Campbell said. “There was no personal contact. In a case like this, people generally can read a headline and are quick to jump to the conclusion that someone like Troy is a monster or some sort of bogeyman, if you will.”

Instead, Slapnicker — who has been behind bars since his arrest in February — was sentenced to an additional 179 days in the Lake County Jail (nearly six months).

In addition, he must register as a sex offender for 25 years.

The judge also banned him from using social media, going on the Internet and having contact with any female under the age of 18 for the five years he is on probation. He also must have ongoing sex offender and other mental health therapy, take all prescribed medication and live with a responsible adult.

Slapnicker used Facebook, Snapchat and other social media to solicit minor female victims to engage in sexual activity with him starting in September, Azouri said.

He previously pleaded guilty to 17 charges: nine counts of importuning, five counts of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor and two counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material.

Each of the charges involved a different victim — 16 minor females and one police officer posing as a minor female.

Slapnicker was arrested by Mentor police after a 12-year-old girl reported a user named “Zeon Zak” had asked her for explicit pictures of herself.

Slapnicker declined to speak in court.

His attorney said although what he did was wrong, she is stunned at how willing children are these days to engage in such behavior.

“Frankly, in my mind it’s kind of a sad reflection of where society is today,” said Campbell. “The oldest victim in this case is 16 years old. When I was 14 years old, if anyone had asked me to take a naked picture of myself, that alone would have made me blush, would have made me run to my parents, would have made me think, ‘There’s something wrong here.’ But then to send it to a perfect stranger… The fact that kids do this today is astounding to me.”